System for organizing the interior of a book bag

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a system for organizing the interior of a book bag with at least one folder that has the shape of the book bag, such as a square bottom section having a bottom edge and two side edges and a rounded top section having a curved edge that extend down to meet the side edges of the bottom section and where the top section is open for receiving papers. The folder can be placed into the book bag and the book bag can be closed without obstruction. Papers can be placed into or removed from the folder while the folder is in the book bag and the folder itself, together with its contents, can be removed from the bag when desired.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to a system for organizing the interior of a book bag and more particularly to the filing of papers in a book bag.

2. Description of the Related Art

Currently, students from grade school to high school and beyond, use back packs to carry their books, papers related to school work, homework, old test papers, class notes, etc., and other items to and from school. All of the items in the back pack are mixed together and not organized. In addition to school related items, a user may also stuff into the back pack an article of clothing such as a sweater and perhaps some food. Often, because everything is just pushed down into the back pack, the papers in the back pack will usually be creased and wrinkled when retrieved. Back packs commonly used by students today are generally soft sided bags having at least one shoulder strap and are usually referred to as book bags. Book bags have a rectangular bottom section and a rounded top section, and a long zipper that traverses the rounded top to provide access to the interior of the bag. With most book bags, the interior is a single compartment. In use, as noted above, all items carried in a book bag are usually just stuffed into the interior compartment and pushed down as the zipper is closed. The result, everything, particularly the papers in the bag, not only get creased and wrinkled, but are not easy to locate and retrieve when needed. A book bag may have pockets for small items, but generally the interior compartment normally remains undivided and is not convenient for keeping papers free of creases or easy to locate.

Book bags typically have a single compartment into which is placed, in a random, haphazard, unorganized manner, items such as textbooks, notebooks, oversized organizers, class notes, homework, returned exams etc. As the student goes from class to class during a school day, it is important that the papers required for each class, such as homework, notes taken during the last class, or a report, be easily and quickly located at the start of each class session. Clearly, the single compartment of a book bag makes it difficult for a student to arrange class notes and papers according to subject matter or to find a paper previously place in the book bag. Often a student will waste time rummaging through or removing most, if not all of the contents of the book bag to find a particular item such as, for example, a home work assignment for a specific course.

What is needed is a folder which can be inserted into a book bag; which can receive class notes while in the bag; can receive class notes while out of the bag and then placed into the bag; can be removed from the bag with all class notes as filed for use during a class session; does not obstruct the closing of the bag; and allows a user to organize and keep all filed papers free of creases and wrinkles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system for organizing the interior of a book bag with at least one folder that has the shape of the book bag, such as a square bottom section having a bottom edge and two side edges and a rounded top section having a curved edge that extend down to meet the side edges of the bottom section and where the top section is open for receiving papers. The folder can be placed into the book bag and the book bag can be closed without obstruction. Papers can be placed into or removed from the folder while the folder is in the book bag and the folder itself, together with its contents, can be removed from the bag.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aforementioned features and advantages of the present invention as well as additional advantages thereof will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention when taken in conjunction with the following drawings wherein like parts are represented by similar reference numbers in the various figures.

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of a back pack here referred to as a book bag;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the book bag of FIG. 1 showing the rounded top front of the bag folded down to reveal the bag interior;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of an open top folder having a rounded top section and a square bottom section similar to that of the book bag and sized to fit within the book bag;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the folder of FIG. 3 receiving papers;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of a folder according to the principles of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of a folder according to the principles of the invention

FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of still another embodiment of a folder according to the principles of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a front view of a folder having spaces for notes and/or reference information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the exemplary embodiment, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and in which is shown by way of illustration the specific embodiment in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized as changes may be made to the structure and/or the method without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a rear perspective view of a back pack 10 commonly used by students to carry books, papers, lunch etc. back and forth from school and which is here referred to as a book bag. Book bag 10 can have a front 12 and sides 14 of fabric or the like and a semi-rigid or stiff back panel 16 usually comprised of a stiff material such as cardboard, foam, etc. normally covered with a fabric. Shoulder straps 18 allow a user to carry the book bag over his or her shoulders. Buckles 20 allow the straps to be adjusted to a desired length by the user. A strap handle 22 attached to book bag 10 allows the user to hand carry the bag. An elongate zipper 24 which wraps around the rounded top section and square bottom section of book bag 10 allows a user to access the interior cavity 26 of the book bag 10.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a front perspective view of the book bag 10 with the rounded top of the front of the book bag folded or bent forward to show the relatively large empty inside cavity 26. The zipper 24 on the book bag may extend completely around the edge of the bag from one end of the bottom edge 28 to the other end of the bottom edge, or it may extend only around the rounded top section and not along the sides of the square bottom section. Generally, the empty cavity 26 forms the main compartment of the book bag 10. Occasionally, a book bag may have pockets (not shown) attached to the outside of the book bag for holding articles such as a cell phone, a water bottle, etc.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown a front perspective view of an open top folder 30 where the top section 32 of the folder is rounded and the bottom section 34 is square, and the folder 30 has a shape that is similar to the shape of the book bag and a size which can fit within the book bag. The folder 30 is closed along the bottom edge 36 and either fully or partially along the two side edges 38, 40 from the bottom edge 36 up to where the side edge 38 of the square bottom section meets the end 42 of the edge of the rounded top section; and where the side edge 40 of the square bottom section meets the end 44 of the edge of the rounded top section. The open top folder 30, when placed in the book bag, can receive papers without being removed from the bag. The folder is not attached to the book bag and need not be secured to the bag in any fashion. Folder 30 can be composed of rigid, semi-rigid or flexible material such as, for example, cardboard, paperboard, heavy grade paper, plastic, poster-board, etc.

Folder 30 has a tab 46 which projects outward from the edge of the rounded top section which is used to identify papers placed in the folder. If desired, a label 48 can be used together with the tab 46 or in place of the tab. When a plurality of folders are placed in the book bag, one behind the other, the individual tabs 46 on each next successive folder can be offset from the tab on the folder which immediately precedes it such that the individual tabs on each successive folder is progressively displaced around the edge of the rounded top section to allow the user to view the tabs and/or labels of the various tabs at a glance.

When two or more folders are placed in a book bag, the tab 46, or label 48 on each folder 30 can be marked to identify the papers in each folder. For example, a user may mark a first folder with the title “mathematics”, a second folder with the title “science” etc. As noted, the tabs of the various folders can be placed at different locations around the rounded edge of the top section such that they will all be readily visible. The tab can be blank and used as a label that can be written on with a pen or pencil, or a label can be attached to it. The tabs can also be color coded, either wholly or in part, to identify the contents of the various folders. For example, one tab can be colored orange, while another tab can be green. The different colors can be associated with various subjects or categories as desired by a user. In another embodiment, the tabs can be constructed such that they are progressively shorter or longer when arranged rear to front (not shown) to facilitate viewing and identifying of the material in each folder.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown a front perspective view of papers 50 being filed in the open top folder 30. The front wall 52 of the folder is attached to the rear wall 54 along their bottom edges and their two side edges 38,40 up to where the rounded top edges 56, 58 begin to form a folder for receiving papers. With this invention, papers can be filed into the folder while it is in the book bag, and papers that are filed can be removed from the folder without removing the folder from the book bag. In addition, if desired, a user can remove the folder from the book bag, together with its contents and the book bag can be placed under a desk or at the users feet while the user works with all the papers in the folder. In this way the user has quick access to all of the material which was filed for that subject. The folder shown in the FIG. 3 has a square bottom section and a rounded top section where the bottom edge 36 of the folder and the edges along the sides of the square bottom section are closed up to or slightly past the edge of the rounded top section.

In FIG. 4, the edges of the sides of the square bottom section are only partially closed. Partial closure of the edges can be by any convenient method such as by means of reinforcing tapes 41,43 which are attached to each side of the folder.

Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown another embodiment of the invention where the folder 60 is closed only along the bottom edge 36 and open along the two side edges and the rounded top edge. With this embodiment, the folder 60 can be opened flat on a desk while the papers 62 filed in the folder are reviewed.

FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the folder. In this embodiment, the front side 72 of the square bottom section of the folder 70 has no rounded top section. In all other respects the folder 70 has the various features disclosed in the folders described above.

FIG. 7 shows still another embodiment of the invention where a single folder has more that one compartment. In this embodiment, the folder 80 has at least two compartments 82, 84 located one behind the other and used for separate subjects which may be related or for papers of the same subject. For example, when used to file papers for the same subject, one compartment 82 can be used to hold class notes and the other compartment 84 can be used to hold homework, returned exam papers etc. To identify the papers in each compartment, a tab can be attached to the edge of each of the top rounded sections and marked with the appropriate legend.

FIG. 8 is a front view of the folder here disclosed having lines 90 and spaces 92 for use by a user to record, by either pen or pencil, specific information. For example, a user may want to put his/her name, class and room No. on the lines 90 in the event the folder is lost. In addition, the user may want to use the box 92 write down homework assignments, special dates, etc. or other information on the outside of the folder for ready reference. In addition, the supplier of the folder may print basic reference material on the outside of the folder such as the multiplication table on a folder used for filing papers for a math course; or the musical scale for the music folder; or the periodic table for the chemistry folder, etc. A space can also be provided for other information that the user may want to add to the folder.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiment as are presently contemplated for carrying then out, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes of the form and details of the devices illustrated and in their operation may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. 

1. A folder for insertion into a book bag having rounded top and a square bottom wherein said folder comprises: a first substantially flat sheet of material having a bottom edge, two side edges and a rounded top edge for forming a front of said folder; and a second substantially flat sheet of material having a bottom edge, two side edges and a rounded top edge for forming a back of said folder; wherein said bottom edges of said first and second sheets of material are coupled together to form a bottom of said folder; and wherein said folder has a rounded top and a square bottom similar to that of said book bag.
 2. The folder of claim 1 wherein one side edge of said first sheet of material is coupled to one side edge of said second sheet of material to form a side of said folder.
 3. The folder of claim 1 wherein the side edges of said first sheet of material are coupled to the side edges of said second sheet of material to form the sides of said folder.
 4. The folder of claim 1 wherein said folder has a size which can fit in said book bag.
 5. The folder of claim 4 wherein papers can be filed in said folder subsequent to insertion of said folder into said book bag.
 6. The folder of claim 5 wherein said folder together with said papers in said folder can be removed from said book bag or said papers by themselves can be removed from said folder and said book bag.
 7. The folder of claim 4 wherein papers can be filed in said folder prior to insertion of said folder into said book bag.
 8. The folder of claim 3 wherein less than the full length of each side edge of said first sheet of material is coupled to less than the full length of each side edge of said second sheet of material.
 9. The folder of claim 1 wherein at least one of said sheets of material has a tab coupled to said rounded edge.
 10. The folder of claim 9 wherein said tab is color coded it identify papers filed in said folder.
 11. The folder of claim 1 further comprising: a third substantially flat sheet of material having a bottom edge, two side edges and a rounded top edge; wherein said bottom edge of said third sheet of material is coupled to said bottom edges of said first and second sheets of material to form a bottom of a second folder; wherein said first, second and third flat sheets of material form a folder having a first and a second compartment.
 12. The folder of claim 11 wherein less that the full length of the side edges of said first, second and third sheets of material are coupled together.
 13. A method of filing papers in a book bag having a rounded top and a square bottom comprising the steps of: inserting into said book bag a folder having a rounded top and a square bottom; wherein papers can be filed in and removed from said folder while said folder is in said book bag.
 14. The method of claim 13 further comprising the step of: marking said folder to identify the papers filed in said folder. 